Palazzo Nuovo, Capitoline Museums

Despite a number of changes that have taken place over the centuries, this section of the museum has more or less maintained its original XVIII century aspect. The decorative features of this area have remained unchanged, and this has influenced the layout of sculptures and inscriptions.

The fine pieces of ancient sculpture come mainly from private collections belonging to high-ranking churchmen and noble Roman families. Unlike the Palazzo dei Conservatori opposite, the interior space of this building and the arrangement of its architectural features are of symmetrical design.

Courtyard
The large central niche in the end wall features a large fountain with the colossal statue of a River god, known as Marforio.

The three large grey granite pillars with a relief frieze portraying Egyptian high priests originate from the sanctuary of Isis and Serapis in the Campus Martius.

Egyptian room
Much of the works on display come from the Iseo del Campo Marzio, the most important sanctuary dedicated to Rome to the Egyptian gods.

Lobby
Along the walls of the long porticoed ground-floor corridor opening onto the Courtyard there are large niches with statues, including colossal representations of Minerva and Mars.

Small Rooms on the Ground Floor
The three small rooms to the right of the large main door of the Palazzo Nuovo are laid out in a row, with single access. They house important epigraphic documents, portraits and sarcophagi.

Main Staircase
On the landing between the two flights of the large staircase leading up to the first floor we can find the fragments of some sarcophagi, busts and statues.

Gallery
The two sides of the Gallery are lined with a row of sculptures of various types from different periods arranged according to strictly ornamental criteria. Many statues are Roman copies of original Greek masterpieces, now lost. Modern restoration has, in some cases, greatly altered the original iconography.

Hundreds of small inscriptions, mainly from the Empress Livia’s colombarium of slaves and freedmen on the Via Appia, have been inserted in the walls.

Hall of the Doves
This room owes its name to one of the two mosaics herein exhibited, found in Hadrian’s Villa at Tivoli. The glass-fronted cabinets contain other particularly interesting exhibits; in addition to bas-relief fragments of a Tabula Iliaca with a miniaturist representation of scenes from the Iliad, we can see a series of bronze tables with engraved laws and honorary inscriptions .

Cabinet of Venus
The centre of this small octagonal room is occupied by a statue of the splendidly preserved Capitoline Venus, based on the prototype model of the Cnidian Aphrodite by Praxiteles .

Hall of the Emperors
Portraits of the emperors and empresses and other important personages of the Imperial Age are lined up on the marble shelves along the wall, although in some cases their attribution is in doubt.

The collection testifies the development of Roman portrait painting from the Imperial Age to the Late Ancient period.

Hall of the Philosophers
The arrangement of this collection of portraits of Greek and Roman philosophers and men of letters, very popular with the Romans for the decoration of their public and private buildings, is along the same lines as that in the Hall of the Emperors.

Many of the portraits are late reproductions and were carried out long after the lifetime of the characters they represent.

Great Hall
The great central hall has preserved its original wall decorations and its XVI century gilded wood coffered ceiling. In the centre we can see a row of statues in coloured marble, including two centaurs from Hadrian’s Villa, both are the work of Greek sculptors.

Other important sculptures, statues of emperors and reproductions of Greek masterpieces are also arranged along the wall.

Hall of the Faun
The Faun in ancient red marble which gives its name to this room comes from Hadrian’s Villa. The walls feature a series of inscriptions, including the famous bronze table with the Lex de imperio Vespasiani, with which the Senate authorized the transfer of power to the Emperor Vespasian in 69 AD.

Hall of the Galatian
The center of the room features the so-called “Dying Galatian”, one of the best-known and most important works in the museum. It is a replica of one of the sculptures in the ex-voto group dedicated to Pergamon by Attalus I to commemorate the victories over the Galatians in the III and II centuries BC.

Capitoline Museums
The Musei Capitolini date back to 1471, when Pope Sixtus IV donated to the people of Rome a group of bronze statues that until then had been kept at the Lateran. These statues constituted its original core collection. Various popes subsequently expanded the collection with works taken from excavations around Rome; some were moved from the Vatican, some, such as the Albani collection, were bought specifically for the museum. Around the middle of the eighteenth century, Pope Benedict XIV created a picture gallery. A considerable quantity of archaeological material was also added at the end of the nineteenth century when Rome became the capital of Italy and new excavations were carried out whilst creating two completely new districts were created for the expanding city.

The Museums’ collections are displayed in the two of the three buildings that together enclose the Piazza del Campidoglio: Palazzo dei Conservatori and Palazzo Nuovo, the third being the Palazzo Senatorio. These two buildings are linked by an underground tunnel, which contains the Galleria Lapidaria and leads to the ancient Tabularium, whose monumental arches overlook the Forum.

The Palazzo Nuovo houses the collections of ancient sculpture made by the great noble families of the past. Their charming arrangement has remained substantially unchanged since the eighteenth century. They include the famous collections of busts of Roman philosophers and emperors, the statue of Capitoline Gaul, the Capitoline Venus, and the imposing statue of Marforio that dominates the courtyard.

The Conservators’ Apartment contains the original architectural nucleus of the building, decorated with splendid frescoes portraying the history of Rome. The ancient Capitoline bronzes on display here add to the noble atmosphere: the Capitoline She-wolf, Spinario and the Capitoline Brutus.

On the first floor of the palace, a huge glass room, recently built, contains the equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius, which once stood in the Piazza del Campidoglio, and the imposing remains of the Temple of Capitoline Jupiter. A section is also dedicated to the most ancient part of the Campidoglio’s history, from its first inhabitation until the construction of the sacred building, displaying the results of recent excavations. The halls that overlook the room contain works from the Horti of the Esquiline; the hall which connects the room to the apartments of the Palazzo dei Conservatori contains the Castellani collection, testimony to nineteenth century collecting practices.

On the second floor, the Capitoline Picture Gallery contains many important works, arranged in chronological order from late mediaeval times to the eighteenth century. The collection includes paintings by Caravaggio (Good Luck and St. John the Baptist), a massive canvas by Guercino (Burial of Saint Petronilla) and numerous paintings by Guido Reni and Pietro da Cortona.

The Palazzo Caffarelli-Clementino holds the numismatic collection, known as the Medagliere Capitolino. On display are many rare coins, medals, gems and jewels, as well as an area dedicated to temporary exhibitions.